Configuring contact items

You can configure the contact items in your address books, customize the fields and forms, create Quick templates, add color and icons, and link to external data sources. Only one Contact item and Master Contact item are permitted for each address book, but you can create as many address books as needed to support your business process.

Before you begin

• If you plan to use the same fields for multiple items in an address book, create those shared fields before proceeding. For more information, see Creating shared fields.
• To use a Master Contact record for a contact, you must define the Master Contact record first. For more information, see Configuring Master Contact records.
• If you want to set a field as an organizational unit, you must add that field on the contact record definition and the ticket record definition, with the same field name.

To configure a contact item

1. Open the address book where you want to configure a contact item:

   1. Click the Administration tab.
   2. In the Address Books section, click the address book name or click Manage to open the Address Book Administration page. Then, double-click the address book.
      The Address Book details page appears.
   3. In the left pane, click Contacts.
      The Contacts page appears.
2. Double-click the Contact item that you want to modify.
   To create a Master Contact item, follow the instructions in Configuring Master Contact records.
3. Configure the fields:
   1. In the left pane, click Fields.
      The Fields pane appears, showing a list of fields already defined.
   2. Select the first field that you want to modify and click Edit.
   3. Modify the attributes as needed, using the instructions provided in Configuring fields.
   4. (Optional) To change the field used as the Primary Key, select the field in the list and click Set as Primary Key.
   5. (Optional) To link a field to an external data source, select the field in the list and click Link to Data Source.
      It is easiest to create these links after you have configured address book options for this contact. For more information, see the Related topics. You cannot link fields generated by the system, such as Created By. 
   6. (Optional) To set a field as an organizational unit, select the field in the list and click Set as Organizational Unit.
      You can specify only one field of Simple Text, Integer, or Single Select field type, as an organizational unit. If you have set a field set as organizational unit and you try to set another field as the organizational unit for the same contact record definition, the new field is set as the organizational unit. For information, see Assigning organizational unit permissions.
   7. Click Save.
4. Configure the forms:
   1. In the breadcrumb trail, click the Item link.
   2. In the left pane, click Forms. 
   3. Double-click the form that you want to modify.
   4. Configure the forms as needed, following the instructions in Configuring forms.
   5. Click Save.
5. (Optional) Configure Quick Templates:
   
   1. In the breadcrumb trail, click the Item link.
   2. In the left pane, click Quick Templates. 
   3. Create and configure the templates, following the instructions in Creating and managing Quick Templates.

6. (Optional) Configure the visual attributes of this item (color and logo):

   1. In the breadcrumb trail, click the Item link.

   2. In the left pane, click Visual Attributes.

   3. In the Specify a custom color... field, enter a color number or click one of the color boxes to the right.

      The specified color appears in the Color Preview box. This color is visible only when viewing the Visualization pane of the Impact Analysis page.

   4. In the Specify an icon to represent this item field, click Browse to select the icon file.
      The selected icon appears in the Icon Preview box.

7. Click Save.
8. Configure the data options for this contact:
   1. In the left pane, click Address Book Options. 
   2. Select the type of address book that you want to use and configure the settings, using the information provided in the Related topics.
9. (Optional) Configure the properties:
   
   1. In the left pane, click Properties.
   2. Modify the fields as needed.
10. Click Save.

11. Publish the address book to implement your changes:

    1. Click Save and Publish.

       A confirmation message appears.

    2. Click Yes.

       The Publication Succeeded message appears, showing the number of errors and warnings.

Related topics

Editing contact items

Deleting contact items

Configuring visual attributes

Configuring address books

Configuring an address book for LDAP

Configuring a dynamic SQL address book

Configuring an address book for Microsoft CRM

Configuring an address book for Salesforce.com